WCW Saturday Night 7/20/1996

World Championship Wrestling presents Saturday Night
Date: 7/20/1996
From: Orlando, FL

Matches:
1.) Meng & Barbarian defeated American Males
2.) Dean Malenko defeated Mark Starr
3.) Eddie Guerrero defeated Mike Enos
4.) The Steiner Brothers defeated Fire & Ice
5.) Chavo Guerrero Jr. defeated Bobby Eaton
6.) WCW Tag Team Champions Harlem Heat defeated Bobby Walker & Jim Powers
7.) Lord Steven Regal defeated Disco Inferno
8.) Chris Benoit defeated Big Bubba

Angle Developments/Notes:
1.) Riggs and Meng kickoff the tag match. Meng clubs away on Riggs with strikes over the back and rams Riggs face first into the corner. Meng boots Riggs in the corner and Riggs hits a dropkick. Bagwell comes in and assists Riggs with two double dropkicks to their opponents. Bagwell tags into the match legally to try his luck with Barbarian. The Leprechaun runs around ringside and runs backstage. Bagwell and Riggs hit a double shoulder block on Barbarian and Riggs tags into the match to deliver a strike off the middle rope. Riggs tags in Bagwell after yanking on Barbarian’s arm. Barbarian stops Bagwell with a strike over the back. Barbarian scoop slams Bagwell, but misses an elbow drop. Riggs ducks a big boot and connects with a leaping forearm smash for a two count. Riggs goes to the top, but Barbarian crotches Riggs on the top rope. Barbarian gets footing on the top rope hitting an overhead belly to belly suplex. Meng stomps on Riggs several times to keep the advantage. Meng powerbombs Riggs managing a two count. Meng bites Riggs forehead and chokes Riggs on the mat. Barbarian drives Riggs down with a backbreaker, but Bagwell enters to help his partner. Riggs tries to punch Barbarian, but is driven down to the mat with a powerbomb. Meng returns to the match and hits a double headbutt with Barbarian for a two count. Meng takes Riggs over with a back suplex and takes his time following up. Meng comes off the ropes missing a somersault splash. Barbarian and Bagwell tag in with Bagwell hammering away on Barbarian. Bagwell tries a clothesline, but settles for a crossbody off the ropes for a two count. Bagwell tries for a fisherman suplex, but is stoppe by Meng. Barbarian nails Bagwell with a big boot and earns the win as Riggs couldn’t break the cover. (*1/2. The finish was really flat because the crowd could tell that Riggs was more than capable of breaking the cover, but had to obviously miss the break on the pin. So, that was just a bad finish. Barbarian and Meng were enjoyable with their power offense and it’s a good win for them.)

2.) Mean Gene interviews Dean Malenko following his victory. Gene wants to talk about Jimmy Hart lurking in the shadows. Malenko says that Hart knows what he wants and he can help Hart with what he wants done. Hart wants Malenko to join the Dungeon of Doom to destroy the Four Horsemen. Hart walks off and Malenko says he’s not looking to be part of any group. Malenko wants the WCW Cruiserweight Championship back and if he needs to work with Hart to achieve that then he’ll have to think about it.

3.) Enos attacks Guerrero before the bell and drops Guerrero gut first to the mat. Enos plants Guerrero with a powerbomb. Enos delivers a short arm clothesline and taunts the crowd. Enos tosses Guerrero with an overhead belly to belly to send Guerrero to the floor. Parker kicks Guerrero a few times and Enos drives Guerrero back first into the ring post. Enos sits Guerrero on the top turnbuckle and is shoved off the top. Guerrero hits a missile dropkick. Guerrero connects with a hurricanrana, but Enos comes back with right hands. Enos has Guerrero over his shoulder, but Guerrero rolls through and pins Enos! Actually, Parker had accidentally hit Enos with a cane. After the match, Dick Slater came out to see what was going on. (*1/2. For a quick match, that was pretty solid overall. Enos was a lot of fun and displayed some excellent offense.)

4.) Mean Gene interviews Col. Robert Parker, Dick Slater and Mike Enos. Enos is pissed that Parker hit him with his cane. Slater says that Parker has been messing up a lot lately. Slater is going to get to the bottom of their issues. Slater is pissed about Sherri kissing him on Nitro and it was like kissing Parker, which makes him sick. Parker says there are an upside to things. Enos says that them not winning the tag titles was strike one, and tonight was strike two. Enos says if there is another strike then he’s out.

5.) Scott and Norton kickoff the tag match with Norton missing a splash in the corner. Scott drops Norton on his neck with a dangerous suplex. Rick enters and tosses Norton with a belly to belly suplex. Scott tags back into the match and misses a clothesline. Norton knee lifts Scott and sends him to the floor. Norton kicks Scott in the face before rolling Scott into the ring. Train decks Scott with a clothesline. Train clubs away on Scott and hits a nice powerslam. Scott clubs Train over the back and tags in Rick. Train forearms Rick followed by a scoop slam and a big splash. Train slams Rick to the mat and wants to tag in Norton, but Norton drops off the apron and walks off on Train. Rick takes advantage by punching Train and the Steiner’s hit a double vertical suplex. Rick nails Train with a clothesline managing a two count. Scott tags back into the match and puts Train on his shoulders leading to Rick hitting a top rope bulldog for the win. (*. Well, I’m bummed this was essentially the demise of Fire & Ice since I was really enjoying the duo. The action prior to Norton bailing was actually going quite good. These two teams tend to have some good matches. I’m sure had this not been angle driven that this match would have delivered, too.)

6.) Lee Marshall interviews the Steiner Brothers. Scott says they are ready for Hog Wild and they are ready for a fight against Harlem Heat for the WCW Tag Team Championships. Rick chimes in and says they have been waiting for their shot and they are going to make them famous. Scott says that Col. Parker cost them the titles last time. Ice Train enters the scene and doesn’t mean to disrespect them.

7.) Ice Train is upset that Scott Norton left him in the ring. Teddy Long comes out and apologizes to Train for causing any issues between Train and Norton. They shake hands.

8.) This is Chavo Guerrero’s debut on WCW Saturday Night. His match with Eaton is rather short lasting almost two minutes. Guerrero won with an inside cradle.

9.) Mean Gene interviews Chris Benoit and asks Benoit about the current situation with the Horsemen, Dungeon of Doom and NWO. Benoit tells Sullivan this has gone beyond business and is now personal. Benoit puts over Dean Malenko and suggests that Malenko is associated with the Dungeon. Benoit knows a thousand counter holds and promises to do what he does best.

10.) Inferno shoulder blocks Regal and does a few dance moves to taunt Regal. Inferno elbow smashes Regal a few times to the mat. Inferno plays to the crowd some more. Regal backs Inferno into a corner and delivers a few strikes to gain the advantage. Regal knee strikes Inferno in the corner and taunts Inferno. Regal continues with an uppercut to drop Inferno to the mat. Inferno back elbows Regal to the mat for a near fall. Regal forearms Inferno followed by stomps on the mat. Regal jabs Inferno several times in the corner. Inferno fights back with a few left hands to knock Regal to the mat. Inferno backdrops Regal out of the corner and tries for a neckbreaker, but Regal hits a double under hook suplex. Regal kicks Inferno right in the face. Regal covers Inferno and wins the match. (*1/2. The finish was quite interesting to me as Regal just punted Inferno in the face and was able to get the three count off of that. Inferno was doing a solid job as a babyface here, as well.)

11.) Lee Marshall interviews Lord Steven Regal. Regal is pissed about the NWO eating into his television time. Regal knows that he does things that people don’t like. Regal is loyal to his country and his people. Regal says that Hogan has decided to rip the hearts out of millions of children all around the world. Regal believes that Hogan should suffer for his actions. Regal promises to humiliate Eddie Guerrero when they meet again.

12.) Jimmy Hart runs out instead of Big Bubba and screams for security to help him. After a commercial, someone throws Bubba through the entrance.

13.) Benoit stomps on Bubba on the floor and pummels Bubba with right hands. Benoit sends Bubba into the ring post shoulder first. Benoit stomps on Bubba’s lower back. Benoit baseball slides Bubba to the floor and continues to deliver stomps on the floor. Bubba fights back with a few right hands in the ring and crowd pops for his comeback. Bubba misses a big splash off the ropes and Benoit connects with a clothesline. Benoit hits a top rope diving headbutt for a two count. Benoit rams Bubba into the corner face first followed by stomps to the knee. Benoit chops Bubba in the corner. Benoit misses a splash in the corner. Benoit recovers to kick Bubba a few times. Bubba plants Benoit with a spinebuster. Bubba backdrops Benoit for a two count. Bubba misses a splash in the corner and Hart is on the apron. Hart tossed something to Bubba, but Benoit gets the object and decks Bubba with it to win the match. (*1/4. Kind of a weird match since both men are heels, but the crowd was behind Bubba until Hart tried to help him cheat. The action was rather basic and mostly boring. I wonder if we find out what happened to Bubba prior to the match.)

Final Thoughts:
A disappointing episode for Saturday Night as the in-ring action wasn’t all that great. Some of the promos were fine to promote Hog Wild, but I was hoping for at least one or two quality matches.

Thanks for reading.